Support for anodes.



No. 825,591. PATENTED JULY 10, 1906. P., P. H. & W. A. ENGBLHARD.

' SUPPORT FOR ANODES.

AYPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 14.1905.-

q Vi tmcoocs d UiTE STATES PATENT onFroE.

FRANK ENGELHARD, FREDERICK H. ENGELHARD, AND WILLIAM A. ENGELHARD, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

SUPPORT FOR ANODES- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 10, 1906.

Application filed September 14., 1905. Serial No. 278,415.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK ENGELHARD, FREDERICK H. ENGELHARD, and WILLIAM A.

'ENGELI-IARD, citizens of the United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Supports for Anodes, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in devices for suspending or supporting anodes in electrolyte or electrolytic fluid for any and all kinds of electrodepositing; and it consists of a support possessing the necessary characteristics, which are more particularly strength sufficient to maintain the weight imposed and endure the strain incident to its use, imperviousness to the fluid in which it may be immersed in whole or in part, freedom from all liability of contaminating such fluid, adaptitude for readily receiving the load to be carried thereby, and capacity to serve as a conductor for electricity, as hereinafter set forth.

The object of our invention is to provide a device for supporting anodes in plating solutions through the medium of which cruder forms of anodes than heretofore can be utilized, such as the tops or unused portions of old anodes which have usually been thrown away or sold for old metal or junk, ingots, any form, in fact, and utilized without waste, whereby a great saving in expense is experienced.

As is well known it is customary to provide anodes with some fastening means at the top to enable the same to be suspended in the fluid and to leave enou h of the anodes when so suspended above the fluid so that such fastening means will not be affected thereby; otherwise the support would soon become destroyed by the corrosive action of the fluid and permit the anodes to fall and interrupt, interfere with, or defeat the successful carrying out of the electroplating process.

Our invention does away with the necessity of providing fastening means and permits the whole anode to be immersed in the fluid, thus efiecting a double saving, besides affording convenient means for using any kind or form of anode. 1

Since lead is impervious to the electrolytes commonly used, while possessing most of the other characteristics necessary for the purstrong rod a, of brass or ot poses of our invention, that is one of the metals which we prefer to employ in the construction of our support and to supply any additional degree of strengthwhich may be .needed, strength being the only characteristic likely to be deficient in lead, with brass, owin to the fact that brass is a good conductor o electricity and is otherwise eminently suitable. some electrolytes some metal other than lead might be employed, and of course brass is not the only strengthening medium available. Except for the additional'need of strength lead alone would be sufficient for the support and will be perhaps in some cases where the load is quite inconsiderable; but for most practical purposes the bimetallic construction must be resorted to.

It will be clear, however, that for The anodes used with our invention may as a s elf for the others which need not-'be' pierced, or all imperforate anodes can be utilized provided the supports are furnished with flanges, brackets, or equivalent members of suflicient size to permit such anodes to be laid thereon, it being understood that we are not to be restricted in any way in this matter.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of our su port, the middle portion being broken out li lg. 2, a vertical section through the same, taken at right angles with the position in which the parts stand in the previous view Fig. 3, a plan view of the holder; and Fig. 4, a side elevation of another form of support, the ends being in section.

For heavy work the straight support has been found to be most practicable, the curved support being suitable only for li hter work.

We will first describe the straig t support, reference being had to the first three views of the drawings. Such sup ort comprises a her suitable material, which is a conductor of electricity, a pipe or tube I), usually of lead, inclosing all ut the upper portion of said rod, and a suitable holder 0. The tube 6 has a flange (1 around the lower end thereof, on which rest the anodes e. The rod a does not extend t ere is a passage clear through said tube,

and the opening thus left is filled with lead, as shown at j, which is burned, so as to unite with and become practically a part of the tube itself, while a wiped lead joint g is made at the top of the tube. Thus it will be seen that no portion of said rod can come in contact with any of the plating fluid, because the device is never introduced into such fluid below the aforesaid joint 9'. hience there can be no decomposition of said device, which would bedeleterious to the fluid and ruin the device, the necessary strength is adduced, and a good electrical conductor afforded. The joint 9 firmly unites the tube b with the rod a and cannot be broken by any weight which the supportis designed to carry.

The holder 6. is provided as a convenient medium of suspension, although something else may do as well. Such holder is a cylindrical body having a longitudinal slot h extending from the periphery into the center and being a little lar er than the rod or, except at the upper termina at h, where there is an enlargement or recess; but such recess does not extend to the periphery of said body, and said holder is provided with rearwardly-projecting horizontal lugs 71 and i. A thumbscrew is in engagement with the threaded sides of an opening in the upper lug 2'. The lugs c and 1/ and the thumb-screw j serve in the capacity ofa clamp for attaching the holder 0 to the supporting-rail of an electrolyte-tank and for making a good electrical connection with the conductor on said rail.

In the drawings, is represents such a rail, and

Zsuch a conductor. The upper end of the rod a is screw-threaded at m, and a nut n is pro-- vided to screw onto said end, such nut hav ing a diminished part n, which fits snugly into the recess h, and shoulder 71/, which whenin place rests upon and supports the rod :1 from the top of the holder 0, thus making a good electrical contact between said holder and rod, as well as securing the latter in position.

In practice, assuming that the holder 0 is in place and fastened to the bar or rail 7c and conductor Z by means of the lugs 21 and t and the thumb-screw y, the desired number of anodes e are first slipped onto the tube 1), the

elevate said rod sufficiently bottom anode resting on the flange (Z. N ext the nut n is screwed onto the rod a, and then said. rod, with its load, is lifted and swung into the slot 72 until the part a of said nut is directly over the recess h, when the supportingmembers are lowered with said part n in such recess until the shouldern comes to rest on the top of the holder 0. The device and anodes now need no further attention and can be left thus suspended until the latter are entirely consumed by the fluid, if desired.

To remove the rod cfrom the holder 0, simply for the nut n to clear said holder and then swing the rod forward out of the slot h. Of course there must be enough space between the bottom of the holder 0 and the joint 9 to permit the amount of vertical movement on the part of the rod a necessary to get the lower part a of the nut ninto and out of the recess 71/. Before more an interior rod or wire a and an exterior pipe or tube 3), both bent so that the device has hooked terminals, and a lead filling f in each end of said tube to close the same and protect said wire from the fluid, as before. By preference the rod a is of brass and the tube 6 of lead. One hooked terminal of the Fig. l support is passed through one or more anodes (not shown) and the other hooked terminal is placed over the member .0 in practice, bywhich means the anodes may be wholly immersed in the fluid, the same results as to efficiency and economy being obtained as in the other case.

Both lead and brass are conductors of electricity, so the current is in no Wise interru ted or retard by the use of our devices.

rom the foregoin it is clear that a great number of different s-iapes may-be given our support and various structural changes made therein without departing from the nature of our invention.

What we claim asour invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As a new article of manufacture, an

anode-support comprising a comparatively strong interior electrical conducting member, a weaker exterior electrical conductingmemher, the latter being impervious to the electrolyte and completely covering the lower portion of the interior member. 4

2. As a new article of manufacture, an anode-support comprising a comparatively strong rod, a tube secured by a wiped jointat the top to such rod, said tube being impervious to'electrolytes and both the tube and rod being electrical conductors, and an impervious filling in the base of the tube under the rod.

3. As a new article of manufacture, an anode-support comprising a comparatively strong rod, an externally-flanged tube secured to such rod, said tube beingimpervious to electrolytes and both the tube and rod being electrical conductors, and a filling im ervious to an electrolyte in the base of the tu 6 under the rod.

4. The combination, in an anode-support,- with a holder adapted to be fastened to a supporting-bar and electrical conductor, of an electrical conducting-tube closed at the base ans adapted to carry anodes, such tube being impervious to electrolytes, and iii electrical conducting rod, which is comparatively s trong, inserted in said tube and secured there to, said red at its upper end prejecting above thetube and being adapted to be engaged with and disengaged from said holder.

5. The combination, in en anode-support, With a holder adapted to be fastened to e supnerting-bar and electrical conductor and having a longitudinal slot thereinwith a recess at the top, of an electrical conductingtube closed at the base and adapted to carry anodes, such tube being impervious to electrolytes, an electrical conducting-rod, which 1s comparatively strong, inserted in said tube and secured thereto, said rod at its upper end projecting above the tube and bein adapted to enter and leave the slot in said hol er, and a m FRANK ENGELHARD. FREDERICK H. EN GELHARD. VVILLIAA'I A. ENGELHARD.

Witnesses:

RICHARD PIEHL, F. A. CUTTER;- 

